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Chapter 4
Research Methods in Psychopathology

Abnormal Psychology,
Thirteenth Edition
by
Ann M. Kring,
Sheri L. Johnson,
Gerald C. Davison,
& John M. Neale
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Chapter Outline
 Chapter 4: Research Methods in
Psychopathology

I. Science and Scientific Methods

II. Approaches to Research on Psychopathology
III. Integrating the Findings of Multiple Studies

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 Science and Scientific Methods
 Science = “to know”
• The systematic pursuit of knowledge through
observation
• Scientists gather data to test theories
 Theory
• Set of propositions developed to explain what is
observed
 A good theory is falsifiable
 Allows for disconfirmation
 Hypotheses
• Specific predictions about what will occur if a theory
is correct

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 Table 4.1:
Approaches to Research on Psychopathology

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 Case Study
 Detailed biographical  Usefulness
description of an individual • Rich description, especially
• Family history helpful for rare disorders
• Medical status • Disprove hypothesis
• Educational and work • Generate hypotheses
background
• Information about peer and
romantic relationships  Limitations
• Personality and adjustment issues • Paradigm may influence
• Current difficulties and prior observations
experiences in therapy • Cannot rule out alternative
explanations
• Cannot prove hypothesis

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 Correlational Method
 Do variable X and variable Y vary together?
• Are they related in a systematic way?
 Do people who experience more stress have more headaches?
 Variables measured but not manipulated
 Cannot determine cause or effect

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 Figure 4.1:
Correlational vs. Experimental Studies

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© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Measuring Correlation
 Correlation Coefficient (r.)
• Varies from -1.0 to +1.0
 e.g., -1.0, -0.65, -0.33, 0, +0.22, +0.70, +1.00
 Strength
• The higher the absolute value, the stronger the relationship
 (-0.9 > +0.6; +0.9 > -.08)
 Direction
• Positive
 Higher scores on Variable X associated with higher scores on Variable Y
• Negative
 Higher scores on Variable X associated with lower scores on Variable Y

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 Figure 4.3:
Scatter Diagrams

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 Statistical and Clinical Significance
 Statistical significance
• Probability ≤ .05
• Can be influenced by number of participants
 Larger samples increase likelihood of significance

 Clinical significance
• Is the association meaningful as well as statistically significant?

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 Problems of Causality
 Correlation does not imply causality
 Directionality problem
• Variable X may cause Variable Y
• Variable Y may cause Variable X
 Third-variable problem
• Variable Z causes both Variable X and Variable Y

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 Longitudinal vs. Cross-sectional Designs
 Longitudinal
• Studies participants over time
• Examines whether causes are present before disorder develops
• High-risk method
 Include only those who are at greatest likelihood of developing a disorder
 Reduces the cost of longitudinal research
 Cross-sectional
• Causes and effects measured at the same time
 Confounds
• Third variable may produce changes in two correlated variables

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 Epidemiological Research
 Epidemiology
• Study of the distribution of disorders in a population and possible
correlates
 Three features of a disorder
• Prevalence
• Incidence
• Risk Factors
 The National Comorbidity Survey–Replication
• Large-scale national survey
• Used structured interviews to collect information on the prevalence
of several diagnoses (Kessler et al., 2005)
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 Table 4.4:
Lifetime Prevalence Rates of Selected Disorders

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 Correlational Research:
Behavioral Genetics
 Methods to determine genetic predisposition
(concordance) to psychopathology
• Family Method
• Twin Method
• Adoptees Method

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 Correlational Research:
Behavioral Genetics
 Family studies
• First-degree relatives (parents, children, siblings)
 50% shared genes
• Second-degree relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents)
 25% shared genes
• Index cases/Probands
 Sample of individuals with psychopathology
 Twin studies
• Monozygotic (MZ) or identical twins
 100% shared genes
• Dizygotic (DZ) or fraternal twins
 50% shared genes
• Concordance
 Co-occurrence or similarity of diagnosis
 Adoption studies
• Study of adoptees who have biological parents with psychopathology
 Cross-fostering
• Study of adoptees who have adoptive parents with psychopathology

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Correlational Research:
Molecular Genetics
 Association studies
• Examine the relationship between a specific allele and a
trait or behavior in the population
 Genome-wide association studies (GWAS)
• Examines the entire genome of a large group of people to
identify variations between people

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 The Experiment
 Provides information about causal relationships
 Involves:
• Random assignment
• Independent variable (manipulated variable)
• Dependent variable (measured variable)
 Can evaluate treatment effectiveness
 Experimental effect
• Differences between groups

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 Basic Features of
Experimental Design
 The investigator manipulates an independent
variable.
 Participants are assigned to the conditions by
random assignment.
 Researcher measures a dependent variable that is
expected to vary with conditions of the
independent variable.
 Experimental effect
• Differences between conditions on the dependent variable

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 Figure 4.4:
Health Center Visits Before/During Experiment

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 The Experiment
 Internal validity
• Extent to which experimental effect is due to independent variable

 Control group
• Participants who do not receive treatment
• Standard against which treatment effectiveness is judged

 External validity
• Extent to which results generalize beyond the study
 Would results apply to others besides the study participants?

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Experimental Research:
Treatment Outcomes
 Research designed to answer the question: “Does
treatment work?”
 Empirically supported treatments
• Treatment manuals
• Control groups
 Placebo
 Double-blind procedure
• Sample composition
 Exclusion of diverse populations
• Efficacy and effectiveness
• Need for dissemination
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 Figure 4.5: Treatment Outcomes

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 Table 4.5:
Examples of
Empirically
Supported
Treatments
for Adult
Disorders

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 Table 4.7:
Percentage of
People Seeking
Treatment by
Country

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 Analogue Experiment
 Experiments not always possible in
psychopathology
• Ethical or practical constraints
 Examine related or similar behavior in the lab
• Induce temporary symptoms
• Recruit participants with similarities to diagnosable
disorders
 College students who tend to be anxious or depressed
• Animal research

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 Single-Case
Experimental Research
 Examine how individual
participants respond to
changes in the independent
variable.
 Reversal (ABAB) Design
• The reversal technique not
always possible
 Initial state may not be
recoverable

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 Integrating Findings
from Multiple Studies
 Meta-analysis
• Identify relevant studies
• Compute effect size
 Transforms results to a common
scale
 Smith et al. (1980)
• Meta-analyzed 475 outcome
studies
 Involved 25,000 subjects
• Results: Psychotherapy is
effective

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Table 4.8: Meta-Analysis: One-Year Prevalence Rates for
Mental Illness Across 21 European Studies

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

 COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights
reserved. No part of the material protected by this
copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
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and retrieval system, without written permission of the
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© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.